And I will raise you up
And I will raise you up
And I will raise you up
On the last day.
Sister Suzanne Toolan of the Sisters of Mercy wrote those words, which are found in the beloved hymn, “I Am the Bread of Life.” She wrote them as a high school teacher during one of her free periods. When the bell rang for the next class she decided she did not like the music, so she tore it up and threw it in the wastepaper basket.
Her classroom was next to the nurse’s office, and a girl came out of the nurse’s office and said, “What was that? It was beautiful!” The girl was moved by the song and she encouraged sister Toolan to go back into the classroom, take the manuscript out of the basket, and tape it back together.
That torn up song, over the years, has touched the souls of people throughout the world. Its strong promise, echoing the words of John 6:54, “And I will raise you up,” repeating three times in a powerful, ascending musical crescendo, spoke powerfully to a young man sitting toward the back of a funeral. The man was moved to tears, accompanied by weeping that would have been audible if it were not for the echoes of voices repeating, again and again Jesus’ promise, “And I will raise you up.”
Not only was it a promise that sang deeply to his grief filled soul, as all good church music does, as he despaired the loss of a good friend to an automobile accident, the tune also sang directly to the rest of his life. It was as if Jesus had walked in the doors of that church, sat down right next to him, looked at him in his lowly, fatigued, and hungry state, and said, “I will raise you up.”
And, he was desperate to hear the words, because this friend’s death was not the first loss sending him into the pit of despair. He had already fallen into the pit. This death was just more dirt heaped from above, burying him deeper. He had recently lost one of his parents, on top of the death of another good buddy from school. You can also add a job onto the list of losses because the grief and depression had caused him to make some recent, poor life choices involving intoxicating liquids.
The sharp, black suit that he sported made him look presentable at the funeral, but hidden behind the nice exterior was a man who longed for a fresh drink of spiritual water and a bite of holy food. How he longed to be refreshed and healed from his long lists of personal tragedies and losses. He longed for Jesus. How he longed to be “raised up.”
That song, that message of Jesus, spoke right to his soul that day, and it kept singing in his head again and again.
And I will raise you up
And I will raise you up
And I will raise you up
On the last day.
That crescendo of a chorus, “And I will raise you up” hummed daily in this man’s head, in a good, and glorious way. He heard it again the day he saw another guy, who looked about as well off as he. “And I will raise you up” went through his head, as he dug into his wallet, took out his remaining cash, and paid for the man’s modest meal of a bagel and coffee.
“And, I will raise you up” went through his head as he stared at the bottles of liquor in the cabinet, and decided for the first time in a long time to close the cabinet door.
The words of Jesus lived in this man through this tune, and in turn, this man lived the life of Jesus because of the tune. That is the power of song.
And I will raise you up
And I will raise you up
And I will raise you up
On the last day.
The writer of Ephesians understands the power of faithful songs. He understands the power that these songs have when sung together. He understands that sometimes the way to wise, Christian living, is not necessarily through the head. He understands that sometimes you need something that can penetrate the soul: song.
You see, the writer of Ephesians really wants us to understand that we are God’s people. And, we are God’s people, not because we were able to do anything to earn it. We are God’s people because God decided that we should be so, despite all we have done or who we have tried to be. We are God’s people because of God’s grace.
The writer forcefully states: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
This is not your own doing. We do not save ourselves. Our lives of faith are a gift from God, given to us through the promise of new life in Jesus Christ, and Christ’s redeeming love shown on the cross.
But, that gift of love does something. It looks like something. And, conversely, it does not look like something else.
“Be careful then how you live,” he says, “not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit…”
“Be careful then how you live…” You are a people who have been formed and saved by a loving God who cares about you...all of you…your entire being and your entire body. God only wants the best for you.
Therefore, Christ’s followers who are wise are not going to waste their time focusing on things that are just plain foolish, and maybe even hurtful in the long run. “Do not get drunk with wine…but be filled with the Spirit…”
Now, it is easy to say something like that (“Don’t drink too much, it can’t bring anything good in the long run”), and it is even easy to agree with it in your head (“Sure, I won’t use alcohol as a crutch”), But, like many other things which are driven not by your head but by your emotional state, it is a lot harder in reality.
As you may know, in my family we have four wonderful, independent, strong willed, creative thinkers in our house. Now, have you ever had four independent, strong willed, creative thinkers all creatively thinking independently in a strong way at the same time? You might sometimes stare at the wine rack too.
I do not mean to make too light something which is not light. We all know what happens when we are forced to rely on treatments for our problems which hurt more than they help. Food, drink, gambling, an unhealthy solitude, the distraction of work, the invigoration of fighting with others, or any number of things, which are all used by the best of us to fill the deep hole of pain that can form in the soul.
The writer of Ephesians has an idea. Instead of filling that hole with things that can harm, allow that void to be filled by the God’s Holy Spirit.
“Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit…”
And, this is where the wisdom of Ephesians really starts to become clear. Rather than fill that hole in your being, that hole in your soul, with time spent doing what dulls and harms, how about you sing some songs of faith? Rather than allowing the harmful thoughts to bounce around in your head, allow the words of the Holy Spirit to bounce around there.
“Be filled with the Spirit,” the writer of Ephesians says “as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Now, I want you to understand that singing gospel songs well is not how you become a good Christian. You do not need to know how to sing good in order to be a Christian. Singing really well is not what you need to do in order to become a faithful person. Those who choose to keep their mouths closed during the hymns so as to spare the rest of us from eternal torture are all collectively saying, “Thank you, Jesus!” And, so are we. Singing is not another thing that you need to do to get yourself into heaven.
And, that depressed man did not show up at that funeral thinking, “Well, today is the day I’m going to get my act together after a couple years of failure by singing some songs in church!”
No! He only showed up to church because he was drawn there under terrible circumstances. He was not there to prove anything, or even to get anything. He was there because the newspaper said that the funeral started at 10am.
But, because he was there, Jesus showed up, and Jesus sat down next to him during that song, and Jesus spoke, not to his head, but to his heart, as the faithful people of God together sang about the promise of Jesus:
And I will raise you up
And I will raise you up
On the last day.
“Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts…” the writer of Ephesians declares.
These songs of faith are precious keys on Jesus’ holy keychain that are somehow able to penetrate the locks of our souls. “Knock and the door will be opened.” They are the Word of God set to the rhythm and heartbeat of our spirits. They are gifts of God that the Holy Spirit uses to move us in ways that no other means can even hope to achieve.
To this day, the song, “And, I will raise you up” sings in that man’s head.
The message of that song is the one that sings in Mary’s soul as she gets the courage to be mother to the Son of God. “And I will raise you up.” The message of that song is the one that the disciple Peter hears after he has ruined everything by denying Jesus, but is called to follow Jesus again anyway. “And I will raise you up.” It is the song of resurrection promise given by Jesus himself.
It is the song that still gives hope whenever the man falls on hard times. “And I will raise you up.” And, it is the song that allows the man to see what Christ might be leading him to do on any given day. The song is his soul’s guide.
It sings to him the day that he walks into the café, sees a young woman, an acquaintance from work, crying over tea in a booth. It whispers Jesus’ truth, “And I will raise you up.”
“Hi,” he says to the young woman. “I know you don’t know me all that well, we work together, but it looks like you need some help getting up from here. How can I help?”
And I will raise you up
And I will raise you up
And I will raise you up
On the last day.
What is your song of faith? What song does Jesus use to move you?
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